Insufficient funds : the culture of money in low-wage transnational families / Hung Cam Thai.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Thai, Hung Cam, 1976- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Vietnamese--United States--Economic conditions.

Vietnamese.

Vietnamese--United States--Social conditions.

Immigrants--Family relationships--United States.

Immigrants.

Immigrants--Family relationships--Vietnam.

Money--Social aspects--United States.

Money.

Money--Social aspects--Vietnam.

Families--Economic aspects--United States.

Families.

Families--Economic aspects--Vietnam.

Transnationalism--Social aspects--United States.

Transnationalism.

Transnationalism--Social aspects--Vietnam.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (509 p.)

Place of Publication:

Stanford, California : Stanford University Press, [2014]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Every year migrants across the globe send more than 00 billion to relatives in their home countries, and this circulation of money has important personal, cultural, and emotional implications for the immigrants and their family members alike. Insufficient Funds tells the story of how low-wage Vietnamese immigrants in the United States and their poor, non-migrant family members give, receive, and spend money. Drawing on interviews and fieldwork with more than one hundred members of transnational families, Hung Cam Thai examines how and why immigrants, who largely earn low wages as hairdressers, cleaners, and other "invisible" workers, send home a substantial portion of their earnings, as well as spend lavishly on relatives during return trips. Extending beyond mere altruism, this spending is motivated by complex social obligations and the desire to gain self-worth despite their limited economic opportunities in the United States. At the same time, such remittances raise expectations for standards of living, producing a cascade effect that monetizes family relationships. Insufficient Funds powerfully illuminates these and other contradictions associated with money and its new meanings in an increasingly transnational world.

Contents:

Six tales of migrant money

The making of a transnational expenditure cascade

Money as a currency of care

The migrant provider role

The American dream in Vietnam

Compensatory consumption

Emulative consumption

The cyclical entrenchment of monetary habits

The high price of esteem consumption

Tall promises

Conclusion : special money in low-wage transnational families.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780804790567

0804790566

OCLC:

870950679